What You Were Never Taught To Get Your Clients To Do What You Say - Part 3
by Scott Schutte and Janine Stichter, Ph.D.
“If clients would just do what I tell them to do they would get the results they want.”
(If you want the origin story check out Part 1 and Part 2.)
Scott here. As a young trainer, I loved transforming people's lives. I still do. I loved getting amazing before and after photos. I loved helping people get exactly what they said they wanted: get lean, get shredded, get cut, major weight loss, etc.
The problem is that only a few clients followed my plan to reach their goals. This was, of course, very frustrating because I had the technical knowledge and had put plans together that, if executed, would yield results. For example, my client Steve pictured here. His plan was simple: strength training 3-4 days a week, cardio 2-3 days a week, follow my calorie goal, follow my macro goal, take the supplements I recommended, sleep 8 hours per night, sauna 3-4 days a week, and don’t drink or eat out. As you can tell it worked. The issue is the difference between simple vs easy.
His plan might be easy for you or even someone like Steve (a tennis pro and and previously a semi professional athlete), but not for most people that are looking for our guidance. Looking back at my approach with clients, I possibly was doing more harm than good. Look at it this way. For everyone “Steve,” there were another 100 people not like Steve. Those people, unlike Steve, were typically married with families and did not have a career that was focused on fitness. So when I gave them my version of a “simple” plan, I was setting them up for failure. This, in turn, didn’t help them reach their goals and reinforced their belief that it was their lack of discipline, willpower, or genetics that was the limiting factor.
It wasn’t until I started working with Dr. J that I began using many principles from behavior science with all of my clients. The principle we are going to go over today is the MED approach which stands for minimal effective dose and it has become far more a far more effective long term solution for most of my clients.
Check out the two previous articles on the root causes of unhealthy behavior and the effectiveness of taking coaching off the floor for even more strategies.
Notes from the Doc.
I have a ton of free time on my hands and need something to fill the time” said no client to their trainer. Clients we support have by and large filled their lives with work, family, and other activities of daily life. How constructive some of those activities are is irrelevant. It's their reality and why MED is so important.
So let's break this down. MED stands for Minimum Effective Dose.
Minimum is simply logical. Aside from the occasional Steve's, most clients only achieve a portion of the recommendations they are given. They do not have the time and desire to add 10 new things to their life, short term or long term. Lots of things can work, what do they need? Value to the client is no longer how much you know, it's about distilling all the information they have access to into small manageable steps that fit their personality and lifestyle.
Here’s in part, why. For our brains to remember information and then become fluent in it, the neuron synapses require frequency and recency. So we need to hear it often, experience it often and as we do, those synapses become so strong that we do not have to think about it. Here comes habit formation. So the least amount of novelty in their day, regular check ins and lots of opportunities to practice a new behavior are important. We must have initial small wins that are regularly celebrated to gain behavioral momentum for additional changes.
Effective starts with relevance. The clients we typically serve do not have a long and or successful history with the nutrition or physical activity required to meet their desired goals. So, the strategies we provide need to be foremost relevant to their lives. Regardless of the desire is weight loss or improved health or everything in between, the goal is really behavior change. We cannot reach any goal without it. So effective often needs to be measured by ability to actively make that minimal change consistently in their daily lives.
To make a change, the demand cannot exceed our capacity. This is where Dose comes into play. Do not confuse willingness with capacity. It's exciting when clients are “all in” and want to take your strategies and run with them. Some can do it… for a while, but rarely does it stick. Most people want change immediately and want to be proud of their ability to make those changes. However, to my points above, the dose has to be set up to create the wins and long-term behavior momentum. Consider daily routines, personal preferences, and the ability to create frequency with your recommended dose.
-Dr. J
Thanks Doc.
Learning this changed how I work with all my clients. Instead of giving them as much as I think they can handle for lifestyle changes, I give them as much as I think they can succeed with. I set them up for success. Think of it like how we do training. If we have someone do a squat for the first time, we don’t load up the barbell and hope for the best. We start simple, body weight squat, then goblet squat, then heavier goblet squat, then just the bar for a squat and smart progressions thereafter. Our line of thinking should be the exact same when we change any lifestyle factor such as nutrition, sleep, and supplementation.
I got into this business because I love helping people and I originally thought giving them the best plan based on their goals, height, weight, and sex was the best way to achieve that. I was wrong. That kind of technical knowledge is absolutely necessary, but I have to work with each unique individual in front of me and figure out a plan that also considers their goals, personality, and lifestyle. I also have to build slowly so they have early success, stick with the plan, and form lifelong habits.
With this approach, I have much less frustration with clients not following through and the clients have much less frustration with themselves for not failing. I am making a more positive impact with all the people I work with. On top of that, it makes a better business model because people won’t stick around if they are constantly feeling like a failure. So next time you work with a client, fight the urge to give them all you know and the “perfect” plan. Give them what they can have success with while also making steps forward on their fitness journey.
You can learn more about behavior coaching and how this can improve your income and impact at www.healthybehaviorinstitute.com
Janine Stichter & Scott Schutte
Scott Schutte is a personal trainer, weight loss behavior coach, gym owner, and fitness educator. He has successfully guided thousands of people on their fitness journey. His education and experience have led him to work with many clients and educate other fitness professionals on how to be successful coaches with an emphasis on behavior change.
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Dr. Janine Stichter has been in the field of behavior change for over 20 years as a researcher, author, educator and practitioner. She understands the importance of behavior science for client success. Her career has focused on understanding the why behind behavior and identifying clear practices that are practical and result in sustained change.
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Most recently they co-founded the Healthy Behavior Institute, an educational platform for fitness professionals and gym owners that specialize in behavior modification. Their educational materials provide professionals with a clear system to add an additional service for better client results and increased revenue.